Jazz: Brazilian Rhythm

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30511, 5 August 1964, Page 8

Jazz: Brazilian Rhythm

The Sound of Hann. Herbie Mann (Bute) with various groups. The Amazon River, The Peanut Vendor, Strike Up the Band, five others. Verve mono V 8527.

New Beat Bossa Nova. Zoot Sims (ten.) with orch. incl. Jim Hall (gtr.). Recado Bossa Nova, Ciume, five others. Colpix mono NPL2BOOB.

It’s a Bossa Nova World. Laurindo Almeida (gtrs., cavaquinha) with orch. Incl. Shelly Manne, Jimmy Rowles, Bob Cooper, Don Fagerquist, Howard Roberts, Max Bennett. Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport, Sukiyaki, More, Liston Antigua, eight others. Capitol mono T 1946 (limited edition).

Laurindo Almeida’s new LP is an extremely dull record which would not have been reviewed had the musicians involved not included such estimable jazzmen as Almeida Shelly Manne, Victor Fledman, Howard Roberts, Bob Cooper and Jimmy Rowles. Mr Bill Miller, the producer, apparently decided to prove the world-wide appeal of the

new rhythm from Brazil by recording pop “hits” from various countries with bossa nova rhythm. Had the musicians’ hearts been in the job they might have produced some excellent pop jazz; but all the record contains is bland, faceless music. Restricting it to a limited edition seems a worth-while idea. Both the Herbie Man and Zoot Sims recordings have been available for a while, but were overlooked when issued. “New Beat Bossa Nova” features Zoot Sims and Jim Hall as soloists with a medium-sized ensemble that includes Spencer Sinatra, Phil Woods and Gene Quill (reeds), Art Davis (bass). Kenny Burrell (rhythm guitar) and a Latin-American rhythm section. The material appears to be genuinely Brazilian. Hall demonstrates his usual lightness of touch and Sims’s playing is pretty,

relaxed and—on several tracks—leisurely almost to the point of insouciance. Several Years The Herbie Mann set features five groups of varying size. No information is given on the sleeve about recording dates, but it appears that they cover a span of several years—the earliest probably eight or nine years ago and the latest four or five years ago. “Baia,” “Frenesi” and “The Peanut Vendor” are early examples of bossa nova, featuring Mann’s flute with’ the guitar of Laurindo Almeida and a latin rhythm section. “Stardust” features Mann on alto flute, with a jazz rhythm section and eight strings and “Strike Up The Band” features the same rhythm section, without the strings. “Dearly Beloved” and “Autumn Leaves” feature another Latin rhythm section, with Mann’s flute and four trumpets. The former is quite an interesting track, with a good vibes solo and some excellent flute playing by Mann, but the latter is mostly given over to the badly-intoned arco bass of Knobby Totah. Ethric Attempt

The remaining track, “The Amazon River,” reflects Mann’s preoccupation in the last five or six years with ethnic music. Recorded live in a New York night club, it is, according to Mann, an attempt “to get the feeling of one of those Villa-Lobos-type things.” Many American critics (and musicians) have objected that Mann’s attempts to enliven his jazz performances by introducing ethnic rhythms produce something neither jazz nor ethnic; but this track is superb.